Suit against polluting firms rejected

Suit against polluting firms rejected

JAKARTA (JP): The North Jakarta District Court has rejected a
lawsuit against five factories and the West Java administration
over river pollution filed by residents.

Presiding judge Adi Nugroho said on Wednesday that his office
had no right to process the lawsuit as neither the plaintiffs nor
the accused live in North Jakarta. The polluted river is also
located in West Java.

The plaintiffs are residents of Serang, West Java. The accused
are PT Indah Kiat Pulp and Paper, PT Onward Paper Utama, PT Cipta
Paperia, PT Sekawan Maju Pesat, PT Picon Jaya and the West Java
administration which are all based in West Java.

As many as 5,000 residents of Serang filed a lawsuit against
the five factories for polluting the Ciujung River with
unprocessed industrial waste between 1992 and 1994.

The residents also filed suit against the West Java
administration for failing to supervise the environment.

The lawsuit was filed at the North Jakarta District Court
because one of the factories, Cipta Paperia, had its head office
on Jl. Raya Sunter, North Jakarta. The office relocated to West
Java in 1990, of which the residents were unaware. The lawsuit
was filed this year.

The North Jakarta judge then suggested that the plaintiffs
file a lawsuit with the Tangerang or Serang District Court where
the factories are located. The plaintiffs' lawyers, Lutfi Yazid
and Irianto Subiyanto, said they would do so.

According to the lawyers, the residents are seeking a court
ruling which will force the factories to conduct an environmental
audit as required by the 1991 law on the environment.

The residents are also seeking Rp 18.7 billion (US$8.5
million) for the loss of their rights to live healthily and also
for the drop in their agricultural production. Most of the
residents had shrimp ponds which got water from the Ciujung
River. (29)